Shui Bing'er stood in front of the cliff again, but this time she did not immediately raise her hand.
She closed her eyes and went through the feeling of condensing the ninety-ninth ice crystal in her mind. From the first to the ninety-ninth, she followed the ice's patterns with each crystal, without trying to control it.
The last one shattered because she panicked when she got to the ninety-ninth one. Her Soul Power in her palm tightened subconsciously, and the ice crystal was crushed by her own force before it could even take shape.
She opened her eyes, palms facing upwards, and her Soul Power slowly seeped out from between her fingers.
The hundredth ice crystal began to condense. One corner, two corners, three corners, four corners, five corners, six corners. After the six-cornered crystal took shape, it did not stabilize immediately. The ice crystal trembled slightly above her palm, and a very fine crack began to appear on the edge of the six-cornered crystal, as if it was about to follow in the footsteps of the previous one.
Shui Bing'er's heart tightened, but this time she didn't exert any more force. She withdrew half of her Soul Power, leaving only a very thin wisp to support the ice crystal below, letting it find its own position.
The crack lingered on the surface of the ice crystal for a moment, then slowly closed. The ice crystal trembled for a few moments, then gradually stabilized, and the cold light from its hexagonal edges softened.
It stood still on its own. Finally, the hundred ice crystals successfully condensed and did not disperse.
Shui Bing'er didn't stop; she raised her hand and pointed to the depression in the center of the cliff.
One hundred ice crystals moved simultaneously.
They lined up in a row, like an icy blue stream, flying towards the cliff face. The first one disappeared into the center of the depression, the second one followed closely behind, the third one, the fourth one, each one passing precisely through the same spot, with an error that was almost imperceptible.
All one hundred hit their mark. The ice crystals did not shatter after sinking into the depression, but instead layered and embedded themselves in the cliff face, forming a dense hexagonal ice crystal pattern.
A gentle blue light emanated from the surface of the cliff, spreading outward from the center of the depression and illuminating the entire ice cliff.
Ice God's Nine Trials, Third Trial: Thousand Crystals in Succession. Passed.
Reward: Obtain the Ice God Bow (prototype), and increase the age limit of the Third Soul Ring by 500 years (purple → black).
A beam of icy blue light shot out from the depths of the cliff and hovered in front of Shui Bing'er. After the light dissipated, a translucent icy blue short bow appeared in the air.
The bow was incomplete, with a section missing from each end, like an unfinished branch, but the bowstring was already formed, gleaming with a cold, eerie blue light.
Shui Bing'er reached out and grasped the Ice God Bow. The moment the bow touched her hand, a cool power spread from her palm throughout her body. She looked down and saw that the patterns on the bow were the same shape as the Ice God Mark on her forehead.
She turned her head and looked at the other side of the cliff.
Feng Xiaotian was still sitting with his back to her, his shoulders slightly tense, clearly still thinking about the third Wind Trace.
He turned around at the sound, his gaze lingering on the short bow in her hand for a moment.
The bow was incomplete, with a section missing from each end, and it gleamed with a cold, eerie blue light, unlike any Soul Tool he had ever seen.
"What is this?" he asked.
" The Ice God Bow." Shui Bing'er stored the bow inside her body. "It's a weapon left behind by the fallen Ice God, still in its nascent stage, just taking shape, incomplete."
Feng Xiaotian looked at the spot where she had sheathed her bow, remained silent for a moment, and then smiled.
"Congratulations."
Shui Bing'er accepted the congratulations readily, a slight smile playing on her lips. She glanced down at her palm, where the phantom of the Ice God Bow flashed by. Then she put her hands behind her back, slightly turned her body, and spoke with a lightness rarely seen in her voice.
"I passed my Third Trial, and the reward is the Ice God Bow," she said. "As for your third test, Wind Trace, maybe I can help you suppress it. You won't have to worry about it alone there."
Feng Xiaotian looked at her and suddenly paused.
In his memory, Shui Bing'er had always been calm and collected. As the captain of the Skywater Academy, she was reserved in her words and actions, and rarely even smiled.
But now she had her hands behind her back, her head slightly tilted, and the corners of her mouth turned up, as if waiting for him to realize that she could help. This was the first time he had ever seen her like this.
He suddenly realized that this unusually playful Shui Bing'er was probably someone only he had ever seen.
This idea gave him a great sense of accomplishment. But before he could say anything, another thing suddenly came to mind.
"That's right!" Feng Xiaotian blurted out.
Shui Bing'er blinked. "What?"
"I couldn't get through before." Feng Xiaotian stood up, paced back and forth a couple of times, and spoke much faster than usual. "At first, I thought it was a defense left by the Wind God, a protective mechanism of the Wind Trace itself."
But after trying it a few more times, the more I thought about it, the more something seemed off. That power was too heavy, unlike Soul Power, which carried a deeper foundation.
When you first obtained the Ice God Bow, it suddenly dawned on me that the power there might be Divine Power. We haven't become gods yet, we don't possess divinity, so of course we can't resist it with just our Soul Power."
He took two more steps, then stopped and looked at Shui Bing'er.
"What you just said might actually work," he said. "We can give it a try."
Shui Bing'er nodded and put the phantom of the Ice God Bow back into her palm. She didn't say anything more and turned to walk towards Little Frost.
Feng Xiaotian followed behind, his steps lighter than when he arrived. He glanced down at his hands; the three lines on his palms had faded to almost invisible, but the complete flow chart remained in his mind. North by east, the intersection point pointed north by east.
The two climbed onto Little Frost's back. The Frost Dragon spread its wings and took off, flying towards the southwest.
The flight was short. The ice field soon came into view, its grayish-white surface gleaming coldly in the Far North sunlight, looking no different from its surroundings from a distance.
But Feng Xiaotian, sitting on the dragon's back, could already feel it; the oppressive aura was still there, even heavier than before, as if it knew they were coming back.
Little Frost landed at the edge of the ice field. The two dismounted from the dragon's back, Feng Xiaotian stood on the ice, closing his eyes.
The wind comes from the southwest, bypasses the ice mound, and forms a backflow on the back of the mound. The location of the backflow is where the Wind Trace will appear. As before, the Wind Trace is still moving.
But this time, he didn't rush to raise his hand.
He stood there, letting the wind blow over him. The wind came from the southwest, circled the ice mound, and formed a backflow on its back, the position of which kept changing. He didn't chase after that position, but carefully felt the rhythm of the backflow itself.
The wind circled around the back of the ice mound, slowed down to almost a standstill at one point, and then continued to circle.
The point where it stops is always the same.
Feng Xiaotian opened his eyes.
"It always stops at that spot," he said. "No matter how far it deviates, it always ends up back at that point."
Shui Bing'er stood a few steps behind him, already holding the phantom of the Ice God Bow in her hand. She looked in the direction Feng Xiaotian was pointing; there was nothing there, but Feng Xiaotian spoke with certainty.
"I'll try it first," she said.
Feng Xiaotian nodded and took two steps back.
Shui Bing'er took a deep breath, channeling her Soul Power into the Ice God Bow. The bowstring trembled, and a wisp of icy blue light emanated from the bow, spreading towards the icy plain.
Wherever the cold air passed, the oppressive feeling in the air was reduced, as if an invisible wall had been breached.
During the release, Shui Bing'er silently counted in her mind: one, two, three—when she counted to three, she felt the power of the bow begin to subside, and the pressure returned on the fourth breath. She didn't hold on any longer and immediately withdrew the bow.
She sheathed the Ice God Bow and took a breath.
"Three breaths," she said. "I can only suppress it for three breaths at most."
Feng Xiaotian looked at her and asked, "Three breaths, are you sure?"
"I'm sure." Shui Bing'er nodded. "When I was testing it just now, I counted in my head, and the pressure returned on the fourth breath."
Feng Xiaotian was silent for a moment, then said, "That's enough. As long as the Spirit of Wind can get in, the Third Trial will be passed."
He stepped back two paces and looked at Shui Bing'er.
"Take a moment to adjust," he said. "Once you're ready, we'll officially begin."
Shui Bing'er closed her eyes and regrouped her Soul Power. Feng Xiaotian stood opposite her, the lines on his palm had faded to almost invisible, but the complete flow diagram was still in his mind.
He clenched his fist and muttered, "This time it should finally work."